Nets' Kidd gets some pointers in summer league head coaching debut

ORLANDO, Fla. — In less than a month on the job, Jason Kidd already has admitted it several times: He has a lot of learning to do as he makes the abrupt transition from star player to the neophyte head coach of the Nets.

Sunday, Kidd was on the sideline for his first live game: a summer league contest against the Detroit Pistons at Amway Center. And the learning continued, with a major public lesson.

A call was missed in the fourth quarter. Kidd didn’t like it, and wanted to let the referee know. In doing so, he walked out of the coaching box and onto the court before lead assistant Lawrence Frank could grab him. In his first game as a head coach, Kidd had his first technical foul.

“I’ve seen some of these coaches be all the way down on the other end,” Kidd said with a laugh after the game, which the Nets lost, 76-67. “So I can’t follow their lead in that aspect. I learned real quickly where the box was. I deserved a ‘T,’ … It’s a lesson learned, and I know I can’t go past halfcourt.”

This was one of several moments Sunday when it was apparent that Kidd was a rookie head coach.

In timeouts, Frank clearly would take the lead, drawing up plays and showing them to Kidd before the head coach took them to the team. At times, Frank — the Nets’ all-time leader in coaching wins — pulled aside players to provide instruction.

“Coach Frank is a mastermind when it comes to drawing up plays and things like that,” point guard Tyshawn Taylor said.

“And coach Kidd was talking to us mostly about defense, and when it came to the offensive stuff that we had to work on, coach Frank would do it.”

It wasn’t just Frank, according to Kidd.

He actively was polling his coaching staff throughout the game.

“I’m going to lean on my staff,” Kidd said.

“A lot of guys bring a lot to the table, but again, this is for me to learn and be able to deal with a shorter timeout clock. … So once I get comfortable with that and be able to get everybody’s name in the right spot, we’ll be fine.”

Kidd was observing a lot, but he also had an active role on the way the game was played.

He was animated, clapping and barking out commands from the bench — especially on defense. Kidd, a former point guard, did some hands-on coaching with Taylor, pulling him aside during a timeout to provide instruction.

“He’s the same way he was talking to you [reporters],” Taylor said of Kidd’s coaching demeanor. “Just mad soft-spoken. … He was positive the whole game and I think that helps us.

“We keep a positive attitude, it makes us want to come out and play hard.”

And in what most would consider a meaningless summer league game, that’s exactly what the Nets did to the bitter end.

Kidd had his team intentionally fouling until the final seconds ticked off the clock and the game was out of reach.

Kidd may have a lot to learn, but everyone learned Sunday that he doesn’t need any help stoking the competitive fire that drove him as a player.

BRIEF: John Welch, who was an assistant coach with the Nuggets last year, sat on Kidd’s left the entire game.He has not been named to the coaching staff, and Kidd refused to comment on Welch’s role with the Nets.